A hidden gem of an ancient town perfect for a road trip during long holidays, away from the crowds.
I recently saw a question: "Ancient towns in China are all the same; are there any really worth visiting?" My answer is, "Definitely, Liye is one!"
📍 So, where is Liye?
Liye Town is located in Longshan County, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province. It is a major town at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, and Chongqing. It sits on the north bank of the Youshui River, with Bamian Mountain at its back.
🔻 Why do I think Liye Ancient Town is worth visiting?
Because of its long history.
The ancient town is an old street that emerged as a Youshui River wharf during the Qing Dynasty, but the land beneath it hides the ruins of the Qin Dynasty Qianling Ancient City, which was not recorded in historical books.
Since it wasn't recorded in history books, how do I know it's a Qin Dynasty ancient city?
Because 37,000+ Qin bamboo slips were unearthed here. The "Qianling Dongting Prefecture" bamboo slip rewrote the geographical history of the Qin Dynasty.
The "Records of the Grand Historian" (Shiji) records the 36 prefectures of the Qin Dynasty, but not Dongting Prefecture. This slip directly proves that the Qin Dynasty established Dongting Prefecture, and Qianling County (today's Liye) was a county under Dongting Prefecture. The discovery of this bamboo slip directly corrected omissions in historical records, making it of extremely high historical value.
Furthermore, in Liye, you can not only visit the site where these precious bamboo slips were unearthed, but the Liye Qin Bamboo Slips Museum also displays the original artifacts. That's why Liye Ancient Town is worth visiting; I think it's a must-visit in one's lifetime.
🔻 Here is my recommended itinerary for visiting Liye
Day 1: Liye Ancient City Ruins > Liye Qin Bamboo Slips Museum > Liye Ancient Town
Day 2: Leave the ancient town to visit Bamian Mountain, then head to Baojing County. This was our two-day road trip itinerary.
Stop 1: Drive directly to "Liye Ancient City Ruins"
The "China No. 1 Well" and "North City Moat," where 37,000+ bamboo slips (18,000+ with characters) were unearthed, are located here. There are also ruins of rammed-earth city walls, moat ruins, foundations of official buildings within the city, and ancient roadbeds to visit.
Besides the ancient well and city walls, two other spots in the ruins left a deep impression on me. First, the pond at the Qin-Han period official office site, where white water lilies were blooming at the time.
Second, a section of the hardened surface of a pedestrian path from the Qin-Han period, preserved and displayed next to the China No. 1 Well. I was deeply impressed by this 2,000-year-old road and recommend that you look for it too.
Seeing the artifacts in the Qin Bamboo Slips Museum after visiting the site provides a stronger sense of immersion, as if traveling back in time to the Qin Dynasty, imagining the people of Qianling throwing bamboo slips into the well.
Stop 2: Navigate to "Liye Qin Bamboo Slips Museum"
Admission is free; reserve a ticket with your ID card.
The museum was quite simple when we visited, but after renovations, the visual effects inside and outside, as well as the artifact displays, are much better. So, I won't focus on the museum's exterior, just the precious bamboo slips.
❶ Three treasures of the museum
You can see the original "Qianling Dongting Prefecture" slip mentioned earlier here.
There are two others. One is "Qianling to Dongting Prefecture via Post."
The key is "via Post." In today's terms, it means: Qianling County had postal delivery to Dongting Prefecture. It is equivalent to a Qin Dynasty express mail tag. The value of this slip lies in the fact that it confirms the Qin Dynasty had already established an official document courier system, serving as very early physical evidence of China's postal history.
The second is the "Multiplication Table," which is larger and is a wooden tablet. Its value: it is the world's earliest existing physical multiplication table. The Qin version starts from nine-nine-eighty-one (the origin of the name "Nine-Nine Table" in ancient times); it also ends with the fraction "two halves make one (½=0.5)." Interpreted alongside other official document slips, it proves that grassroots government offices in the Qin Dynasty were already using this table to calculate taxes and measure land.
🎶 A small anecdote: We first saw signs decorated with the multiplication table content in the parking lot near the Liye Ancient City Ruins and didn't know what they meant. We only understood after visiting the museum.
⚠️ Visit tip: The bamboo slips used to be displayed lying flat, and the lighting was very dim, making them hard to see. Now they are displayed upright, and the lighting is much better than before.
❷ The bamboo slips we photographed
Most of the unearthed bamboo slips are kept at the Provincial Institute of Archaeology. The museum displays over 700 originals. Don't underestimate 700 items; if you want to examine them carefully, you won't finish in a few days. We only saw over 400 originals at the time, but we still regretted entering the museum late, as we didn't have time to look at many categories of slips and ended up just taking a quick look.
Stop 3: Stay in Liye Ancient Town
Before we knew it, the sun was setting, so we navigated to "Liye Ancient Town" to arrange food and accommodation.
From this section (Liye Qincheng Square), we could quietly watch the sunset over the Youshui River. This location was perfect for aerial photography at the time. From the drone's perspective, the outline of Liye Ancient Town was clearly visible. As the evening breeze blew, standing in the sunset, we couldn't help but sigh: "The green mountains remain, how many times has the sun set red."
Stop 4: Explore Bamian Mountain before leaving Liye
Bamian Mountain is behind the north side of Liye Ancient Town, 18 km away and a 30-minute drive.
Bamian Mountain is a giant alpine table mountain; the mountain has steep cliffs, but the top is as flat as a table.
🚙 Road trip route
Dayanmen > Yingzuiyan (Eagle Beak Rock) > Yanzidong (Swallow Cave) (> Zishengqiao > Beiziyan). Because the weather was getting worse, we didn't go to the parts in parentheses.
Notable sights are as follows.
❶ Yanzidong (Swallow Cave)
The sight on Bamian Mountain that makes me want to go again is Yanzidong, a row of 4 giant karst caves side-by-side halfway up the cliff.
Looking from afar, the terrain is very dangerous. Unfortunately, a gate blocked the way at that time, saying it was under construction.
❷ Beiziyan (Cup Rock)
The highest point of Bamian Mountain, with an altitude of 1,414.5 meters. The Liye River Valley below is at an altitude of over 200 meters, with a vertical height difference of over 1,000 meters. You can see the sea of clouds here, but we weren't that lucky that day; the world was filled with mist. So this is the second sight that makes me want to visit Bamian Mountain again.
❸ Dayanmen, Xiaoyanmen
Ancient dangerous passes up the mountain, with alpine meadows, suitable for road trips to see grasslands and sunsets, and also for camping to watch the starry sky. Each pass has a campsite, and they are all developed inside, so you can enjoy the view even if the weather is bad. This is where we stayed for a long time that day.
❹ Yunding Zhidian (Eagle Beak Rock) Observation Deck
This is a cliff check-in spot on Bamian Mountain. The fence is made of logs + thick ropes; looking outward, you can overlook the deep canyon in the direction of Chongqing. There is a campsite here, and if the weather is good, you can camp and watch the stars. The canyon at night must be spectacular in its own way.
One mountain and one river, Bamian Mountain and Liye Ancient Town below, together write the history of the Wuling Mountain area.
▶️ All photos are original shots and productions by Mr. Dog and Cai Cai Juan Er.
▶️ The above content is summarized based on personal travel experiences; please forgive any omissions.
▶️ Affected by timeliness, some scenes may have changed; please refer to the current situation.
▶️ All attractions visited by Cai Cai Juan Er and Mr. Dog are accessible by sedan.
▶️ Address location information is provided by the website; please leave a message if you need more detailed information.
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